Aurora police officer shoots and kills man who began fighting after an attempted traffic stop
A man is dead after a shooting on Saturday night involving an Aurora police officer. That's according to the Aurora Police Department.
The situation began at about 7:30 p.m. when an officer tried to conduct a traffic stop near the intersection of 6th Avenue and Billings Street. That's close to Interstate 225 and to Sable Boulevard.
APD says following a traffic violation, the vehicle the officer was trying to stop on 6th Avenue crashed into a car and then crossed the median and hit another vehicle. It could be seen afterwards with heavy damage outside a Dino Mart gas station.
When the officer approached the suspect's car and began giving demands, police say the man, who had gotten out of the car, didn't obey and began to fight the officer.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain told reporters as the situation became more concerning, the officer spotted a firearm near the suspect.
"At some point it appears that a gun was seen by the officer on the ground and the suspect appeared to be walking towards that weapon. The officer attempted to de-escalate the situation," said Chamberlain.
After the officer fired a shot or shots, the suspect died.
6th Avenue was closed for several hours while investigators reviewed evidence at the scene.
Aurora PD released a statement from Chief Chamberlain late Sunday afternoon:
Last night's shooting was a tragedy for everyone involved, and it's a tragedy that could have been avoided. The suspect in this incident had numerous opportunities to comply with law enforcement. Instead, his illegal and reckless behavior put motorists at risk, put our officer at risk and ultimately put the entire community at risk.
Make no mistake, the suspect in last night's incident was armed. He tried to conceal that firearm by tossing it moments after causing two vehicle crashes. It appears he was in the process of asking others to retrieve that firearm - and attempted to move toward it himself - all while failing to listen to directions and becoming increasingly aggressive and violent toward the lone officer.
This incident will be thoroughly investigated by the 18th Judicial Critical Incident Response Team, as well as undergo a comprehensive administrative review. The Aurora Police Department has and will continue to be fully transparent as these two processes move forward. We will provide updates to the community as they become available, bearing in mind at this point there are limitations in what can be released so not to compromise the integrity of the active and independent investigation by the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office CIRT Team.
The identity of the man who was killed has not been released.
The officer was not hurt. The officer was wearing a body camera, according to the department.
